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IIITERITATIOKAL   IIT£TITUTE  OP  AGRICULTUHE 


•    •    • 


Lej 


MISCELLiilTEOUS   PUBLICiiTIOHR 


Volume  1 
Ml 


0 .  ; 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

1.  Statement  concerning  the  institute. 

! 

2.  Letter  to  ivlr.  Perkins  relative  to  the  institute.  1909. 
5.  The  Institute  and  cooperative  banking.   1909. 

4.  Resolution  passed  by  the  national  grange.  1910.   £  copies 

5.  Price  Fluctuations  in  the  staples:  their  influence  on 

the  v/elfare  of  the  state.   1910.   £  copies. 

6.  Its  Labors  in  behalf  of  economic  betterment.   1910. 

7.  General  introduction  to  the  bulletins  of  the  bureau  of 

agricultural  intelligence  and  of  diseases  of  plants. 
1910. 

8.  Report  of  the  delegation  of  the  U.S.  to  the  general 

assembly  of  the  institute.   1911. 

9.  Message  from  the  president  of  the  U.B.   concerning 

creation  of  institute.   1906. 

10. Its  influence  on  economic  welfare.   1911. 

ll.Raiffeisen  System  of  rural  cooperative  credit,  its 
adaptation  and  adoption  in  the  U.8.   1912. 

12.L'Activite  de  lUnstitut.   191£. 

IS.Le  Present  et  I'Avenir  de  l*Institut.   1912. 

14. Su  Importancia  para  la  America  Latina,  en  especial 
para  Chile .   1913 . 

If. .Message  from  the  president  of  the  U.S.  concerning 
the  general  assembly  of  the  institute.   1913. 

16. Board  of  Agriculture  and  fisheries.  The  Institute- 
Its  objects  and  its  publications.    1913. 

17. The  Landschaft.   Co-operative  rural  credit.   1913. 

16. Pamphlet  concerning  the  institute.   1913. 

I 
19. The  Way  out  of  the  rut.   191.^.  2  copies. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2011  with  funding  from 

Boston  Library  Consortium  Member  Libraries 


http://www.archive.org/details/internationalins01unit 


TABLK  OF  COIITEITTS  (cont.) 

20.  Concerning  the  international  year  "booi:  of 

agricultural  statistics,   1913,  1^14. 

21.  Steadying  the  world's  prices  of  the  staples.  1914. 

22.  Proposal  for  an  international  conference  on  the 

regulation  and  control  of  ocean  carriage  by  means 
of  an  international  commerce  coniniiesion. ...... 

£1^.  Concerning  the  fourth  volume  of  the  International 
year-book  of  agricultural  legislation.   191f,. 

24.  Letter  to  Senator  Hiram  W.  Johnson  on  the  work  of 

the  institute.   1918. 

25.  Our  foreign  trade  after  the  war.   1918. 
26. 


(3.  o  c» 

T 

1st  Session 


59th  Congress,  \  CONFIDENTIAL.  (  Execdtivb 


m  'i-'i  ^306   «»'W.  Wade  emc.  ij:brjs.ry  «r  tw 

INTERNATIONAL  INSTITUTE  OF  AGRICUCSW^^B.  1914 

MESSAGE 

FROM   THE  ! 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

TRAKSMITTING 

A  CONVENTION  SIGNED  AT  HOME  ON  JUNE  7,  1906,  BY  THE  DELE- 
GATES OF  THE  VABIOXTS  POWEHS  FOR  THE  CREATION  OF  AN 
INTERNATIONAL  INSTITUTE  OF  AGBIOUIiTURE.  HAVING  ITS 
SEAT  AT  ROME. 


June  26,  1906. — Read ;  convention  read  the  first  time  and  referred  to  the  Ck)m- 
mittee  on  Foreign  Relations  and,  together  with  the  message,  ordered  to  be 
printed  in  confidence  for  the  use  of  the  Senate. 


I'o  the  Senate: 

I  transmit,  for  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate  to  its  ratification, 
a  convention  signed  at  Eome  on  June  7,  1905,  by  the  delegates  of  the 
various  powers  for  the  creation  of  an  international  institute  of  agri- 
culture, having  its  seat  at  Eome. 

Theodore  Eoosevelt. 

The  White  House,  June  26,  1906. 


The  Peesidext  : 

The  undersigned  Secretary  of  State  has  the  honor  to  lay  before  the 
President,  with  a  view  to  receiving  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Sen- 
ate to  its  ratification,  an  authenticated  copy  of  the  convention  for  the 
creation  of  an  international  institute  of  agriculture,  having  its  seat  at 
Eome,  which  was  signed  by  the  plenipotentiaries  of  forty  governments, 
and  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  by  Mr.  Henry  White,  the  Amer- 
ican ambassador  at  Eome,  subject  to  the  advice  and  consent  of  the 
Senate  to  its  ratification  and  legislation  by  Congress  to  give  it  effect. 

Eespectfully  submitted. 

Elihu  Eoot. 

Department  of  State, 

Washington,  June  25,  1906. 


I  INTEEXATIONxVL     INSTITUTE     OF    AGEICULTITRE. 

1  In  a  series  of  meetings  held  at  Rome,  from  May  29  to  June  6, 

2  1905,  the  delegates  of  the  Powers  convened  at  the  Conference  for 

3  the  creation  of  an  International  Institute  of  Agriculture,  having 

4  agreed  upon  the  text  of  a  Convention  to  be  dated  June  7,  1905, 

5  and  this  text  having  been  submitted  for  approval  to  the  Govern- 
G  ments  which  took  part   in  the   said   conference,   the   undersigned, 

7  having  been   furnished   with   full  powers  found   in  good  and   due 

8  ■  form,  have  agreed,  in  the  names  of  their  respective  Governments, 

9  on  what  follows : 

10  Article  1. 

II  There  is  hereb}^  created  a  permanent  international  institute  of 

12  agriculture,  having  its  seat  at  Eome. 

13  Article  2. 

14  The  international  institute  of  agriculture  is  to  be  a  government 

15  institution,    in    which   each    adliering   power    shall   be    represented 

16  by  delegates  of  its  choice. 

17  The  institute   shall  be   composed  of   a  general  assembly  and  a 

18  permanent   committee,   the   composition   and    duties   of   which   are 

19  defined  in  the  ensuing  articles. 

20  Article  3. 

21  The  general  assembly  of  the  institute  shall  be  composed  of  the 

22  representatives  of  the  adhering  governments.     Each  nation,  what- 
33  ever  be  the  number  of  its  delegates,  shall  be  entitled  to  a  number 

24  of  votes  in  the  assembly  which  shall  be  determined  according  to 

25  the   group   to   which   it   belongs,   and  to   which   reference   will   be 

26  made  in  article  10. 

27  Article  4. 

28  The  general  assembly  shall  elect  for  each   session  from  among 

29  its  members  a  president  and  two  vice-presidents. 

30  The  sessions  shall  take  place  on  dates  fixed  by  the  last  general' 

31  assembly  and  according  to  a  programme  proposed  by  the  perma- 

32  nent  committee  and  adopted  by  the  adhering  governments. 


international    institute   of  ageicultuke.  3 

1.  Article  5. 

2  The   general   assembly   shall   exercise   supreme   control   over   the 

3  Internationa]  institute  of  agriculture. 

4  It  shall  approve  the  projects  prepared  by  the  permanent  com- 

5  mittee   regarding  the   organization   and   internal   workings   of  the 

6  institute.     It  shall  fix  the  total  amount  of  expenditures  and  audit 

7  and  approve  the  accounts. 

8  It   shall   submit  to   the   approval   of   the   adhering  governments 

9  modifications  of  any  nature  involving  an  increase  in  expenditure 

10  or  an  enlargement  of  the  functions  of  the  institute.     It  shall  set 

11  the  date  for  holding  the  sessions.     It  shall  prepare  its  regulations. 

12  The  presence   at  the  general  assemblies  of  delegates   represent- 

13  ing  two-thirds  of  the  adhering  nations  shall  be  required  in  order 

14  to  render  the  deliberations  valid. 

lo  Article  6. 

16  The   executive  power   of  the   institute   is   intrusted  to   the   pe;-- 

17  manent  committee,  -^vhich,  under  the  direction  and  control  of  the 

18  general  assembl}^,  shall  carry   out  the  decisions  of  the  latter   and 

19  prepare  propositions  to  submit  to  it. 

20  Article  7. 

21  The  permanent  committee  shall  be  composed  of  members  desig- 

22  nated    by    the    respective    governments.      Each    adhering    nation 

23  shall  be  represented  in  the  permanent  committee  by  one  memlDer. 

24  However,  the  representation  of  one  nation  may  be  intrusted  to  a 
2.5  delegate    of    another    adhering    nation,    provided    that    the    actual 

26  number  of  members  shall  not  be  less  than  fifteen. 

27  The  conditions  of  voting  in  the  permanent  committee  shall  be 

28  the  same  as  those  indicated  in  article  3  for  the  general  assemblies. 

29  Article  8. 

30  The  permanent  committee  shall  elect  from  among  its  members 

31  for    a    period    of   three    years    a    president    and    a    vice-president, 

32  who  may  be  reelected.     It  shall  prepare  its   internal  regulations, 

33  vote  the  budget   of  the  institute  within  the  limits   of  the   funds 

34  placed  at  its  disposal  by  the  general  assembly,  and   appoint  and 

35  remove  the  officials  and  employees  of  its  office. 

36  The    general    secretary    of   the    permanent    committee    shall    act 

37  as  secretary  of  the  assembly. 


4  inteknational   institute   of  ageicultuke. 

1  Aktiole  9. 

2  The  institute,  confining  its   operations  within   an  international 

3  sphere,  shall — 

4  (a)    Collect,   study,  and  publish  as  promptl}^  as  possible  statis- 

5  tical,    technical,    or    economic    information    concerning    farming, 

6  both    vegetable    and    animal    products,    the    commerce    in    agricul- 

7  tural  products,  and  the  prices  prevailing  in  the  various  markets; 

8  (b)    Communicate    to    parties    interested,    also    as    promptl}^    as 

9  possible,  all  the  information  just  referred  to ; 

10  (c)    Indicate  the  wages  paid  for  farm  work; 

11  (d)  Make  known  the  new  diseases  of  vegetables  which  may  appear 

12  in  an}^  part  of  the  world,  showing  the  territories  infected,  the  prog- 

13  ress  of  the  disease,  and,  if  possible,  the  remedies  which  are  effective 

14  in  combating  them. 

15  (e)    Study  questions  concerning  agricultural  cooperation,  insur- 

16  ance,  and  credit  in  all  their  aspects;    collect  and  publish  informa- 

17  tion  which  might  be  useful  in  the  various  countries  in  the  organi- 

18  zation   of   works   connected   with   agricultural   cooperation,    insur- 

19  ance,  and  credit; 

20  (f )    Submit  to  the  approval  of  the  governments,  if  there  is  occa- 

21  sion  for  it,  measures  for  the  protection  of  the  common  interests  of 

22  farmers  and  for  the  improvement  of  their  condition,  after  having 

23  utilized  all  the  necessary  sources  of  information,  such  as  the  wishes 

24  expressed  by  international  or  other  agricultural  congresses  or  con- 

25  gresses    of    sciences    applied   to    agriculture,    agricultural    societies, 

26  academies,  learned  bodies,  etc. 

27  All  questions  concerning  the  economic  interests,  the  legislation, 

28  and  the  administration  of   a  particular  nation  shall  be  excluded 

29  from  the  consideration  of  the  institute. 

30  Article  10. 

31  The  nations  adhering  to  the  institute  shall  be  classed  in  five 

32  groups,  according  to  the  place  Avhich  each  of  them  thinks  it  ought 

33  to  occupy. 


INTEENATIONAL     INSTITUTE     OF    AGRICULTURE. 


5 


1  The   number   of    votes   which   each   nation   shall    have    and    the 

2  number  of  units  of   assessment  shall  be  established  according  to 

3  the  following  gradations: 


Groups  of  nations. 

Numbers  i     Units  of 
of  votes,  assessment. 

I           .            

5 

4 
3 
2 
1 

16 

II 

8 

Ill                 .    .              

4 

IV 

V 

1 

In  any  event  the  contribution  due  per  unit  of  assessment  shall 
never  exceed  a  maximum  of  2,500  francs. 

As  a  temporary  provision  the  assessment  for  the  first  two  years 
shall  not  exceed  1,500  francs  per  unit. 

Colonies  may,  at  the  request  of  the  nations  to  which  they  belong, 
be  admitted  to  form  part  of  the  institute  on  the  same  conditions  as 

10  the  independent  nations. 

11  Article  11. 

12  The  present   Convention  shall   be   ratified   and  the   ratifications 

13  exchanged  as  soon  as  possible  by  depositing  them  Avith  the  Italian 

14  Government. 

15  In   faith   whereof   the   respective    Plenipotentiaries    have   signed 

16  the  present  Convention  and  have  hereunto  affixed  their  seals. 

17  Done  at  Eome  the  7th  of  June  one  thousand  nine  hundred  and 

18  five,  in  a  single  original,  deposited  with  the  Ministry  of  Foreign 

19  Affairs  of  Italy,  of  which  certified  copies  shall  be  sent  through  the 

20  diplomatic  channel  to  the  contracting  States. 


21 

For  Italy: 

TiTTONI. 

22 

For  Montenegro : 

General  Mitar    Martinovich. 

23 

For  Eussia : 

Kroupensky. 

24 

For  Argentine  Kepnblic : 

Bald.°  M.  Fonseca. 

25 

For  Koiimania : 

]!^icoLAS  Fleva. 

26 

For  Senda : 

M.    MiLOVANOVITCH. 

27 

For  Belgium : 

L.  Verhaeghe  de  ISTaeter. 

28 

For  Salvador : 

J.  Gustavo  Guerrero. 

29 

■  For  Portugal : 

M.   DE   Carvalho  e   Vasconcel 

LOS. 

INTERNATIONAL     INSTITUTE     OF    AGRICULTURE. 


1 

For  United  States  of  Mex- 

ico: 

.   G.    A.   ESTEVA, 

2 

For  Luxemburg: 

L.  Verhaeghe  de  ISTaeyer. 

3 

For  Switzerland : 

J.   B.  PlODA. 

4 

For  Persia : 

]Sr.  Malcolm. 

5 

For  Japan: 

T.  Ohyama. 

6 

For  Ecuador : 

J.  T.  Mera. 

7 

For  Bulgaria : 

D.  MiNTCHOVITCH, 

8 

For  Denmark : 

Cte  Moltke. 

9 

For  Spain: 

Due  DE  Arcos. 

10 

For  France : 

Camille  Barrere. 

11 

For  Sweden : 

BiLDT. 

12 

For  The  ^"etherlands : 

JONKHEER  VAN  DER  GoES. 

13 

For  Greece : 

Christ.  Mizzopoulos. 

14 

For  Uruguay : 

Jean  Cuestas. 

15 

For  Germany: 

A.  Monts. 

16 

For  Cuba : 

Carlos  de  Pedroso. 

17 

For  Austria-Hungary : 

H.  LtJTZow. 

IS 

For  ISTorway: 

Carl  Lovenskiold. 

19 

For  Egypt: 

Aziz  Izzet. 

20 

For  Great  Britain  : 

Edwin  H.  Egerton. 

21 

For  Guatemala : 

Thomas  Segarini. 

22 

For  Ethiopia : 

Giuseppi  Cuboni. 

23 

For  Nicaragua : 

Jean  Giordano  duc  de  Oratino, 

24 

For    United     States    of 

America : 

Henry  White. 

25 

For  Brazil : 

Barros  Moreira. 

26 

For  Costa  Rica : 

Rafael  Montealegre. 

27 

For  Chile : 

Victor  Grez. 

28 

For  Peru : 

Andres  A.  Caceres. 

29 

For  China : 

HOUANG  KaO. 

30 

For  Paraguay : 

F.  S.  Benuccl 

31 

For  Turkey : 

M.  Rbchid. 

INTERNATIONAL     INSTITUTE     OF    AGRICULTURE.  7 

Washington,  May  21,  1906. 

Hon.    Heney    Cabot    Lodge,     {Memher    Committee    on    Foreign    Relations), 
United  States  Senate,   Washington. 

Sir: 

At  your  request  of  to-day  I  herewith  preseut  the  following  outline  of  the 
aims  and  purposes  of  the  International  Institute  of  Agriculture. 

The  chief  purpose  of  the  International  Institute  of  Agriculture  is  to  remove 
the  ohstacles  which  now  impede  the  operation  of  the  law  of  supply  and  demand. 
This  will  be  accomplished  by  the  gathering,  summarizing  and  disseminating 
information  on  the  world's  supply  of  the  staples  of  agriculture,  said  informa- 
tion to  be  timely,  available  in  form,  and  to  be  composed  mainly  of  (a)  the 
stock  on  hand,  and  (Z))  "the  condition  of  the  growing  crops. 

While  it  is  admitted  that  timely  world's  summaries  of  the  stock  on 
hand,  and  of  the  condition  of  the  growing  crops,  form  the  basis  of  the  world's 
price,  it  must  also  be  admitted  that  faulty  information  on  this  head  must 
result  in  unnecessary  fluctuations. 

Unnecessary  fluctuations  in  the  world's  prices  of  the  staples  of  agri- 
culture must  not  alone  work  injuriously  on  the  capital  and  labor  of  the 
farm,  but  also  work  injuriously  on  the  capital  and  labor  of  the  factory,  for 
these  staples  are  the  raw  material  of  the  manufacturer. 

It  must  be  further  admitted  that  so  long  as  there  are  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  important  agricultural  nations  at  the  present  time  which  keep  no 
tally  of  the  stock  on  hand  or  of  the  condition  of  their  growing  crops  it  must, 
therefore,  necessarily  render  the  world's  summary  defective  to  a  degree  which 
causes  unnecessary  fluctuations  in  the  world's  price. 

Nor  would  it  remedy  matters  were  the  correct  world's  summary  obtained 
and  disseminated  by  any  one  nation ;  for  were  such  a  nation  an  exporter  its 
statements  would  be  controverted  by  the  buying  nation,  and  were  it  a  buying 
nation  its  statements  would  be  controverted  by  the  exporting  nation.  It, 
therefore,  necessarily  follows  that  the  information  should  be  gathered  and 
disseminated  by  an  organization  representing  all  the  nations,  which  would 
then  be  received  as  authoritative  by  all  the  world.  This  then  would  do  for  the 
things  of  exchange  what  gold  does  for  the  medium  of  exchange.  It  would 
steady  the  price  by  lessening  the  opportunities  of  the  fluctuations.  And  it  is 
this  which  it  is  proposed  shall  be  done  by  the  International  Institute  of 
Agriculture.  , 

The  International  Institute  of  Agricultm'e  is  now  an  assured  fact.  A  suf- 
ficient number  of  nations  have  now  ratified  the  Protocol,  and  this  has  given 
warrant  to  H.  M.  the  King  of  Italy  for  his  command  to  begin  the  building 
of  the  palace  for  the  Institute,  on  the  grounds  of  the  Villa  Borghese,  and  to 
have  all  in  readiness  in  the  Spring  of  1907. 


THE  IMPORTANCE   OF   THIS  MATTER  TO   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

There  are  several  reasons  why  the  United  States  should  ratify  the  signing 
of  the  Protocol.     Among  them  are  the  following : 

First.  While  the  United  States  Government  unquestionably  has  the  most 
perfected  system  of  obtaining  information  in  the  United  States,  it  must,  under 


O  INTERNATIONAL     INSTITUTE     OF    AGBI  CULTURE. 

present  conditions,  depend  upon  the  less  perfected  systems  of  other  countries 
for  an  essential  part  of  its  data  toward  the  world's  summary.  How  faulty 
that  summary  must  be,  especially  when  it  is  considered  that  many  important 
nations  have  no  data  of  this  kind  at  all,  must  be  obvious.  It  is,  therefore, 
clear,  that  the  United  States,  as  a  member  of  the  Institute,  will  only  then  be 
in  a  position  to  obtain  the  necessary  data  and  in  authoritative  form. 

Second.  While  it  is  clear  that  H.  M.  the  King  of  Italy  is  quite  anxious 
to  have  the  United  States  ratify  the  Protocol  and  become  a  member .  of  the 
Institute,  it  is  quite  manifest  to  those  who  have  observed  the  matter  closely 
that  the  great  landed  interests  in  Europe  are  very  desirous  that  the  United 
States  do  no  become  a  part  of  the  Institute.  With  the  United  States  absent, 
the  Institute  is  almost  sure  to  become  a  secret  organization,  and  as  such  the 
European  nations  will  have  the  advantage  of  obtaining  the  information  freely 
furnished  by  the  United  States,  and  this,  together  with  the  information  gath- 
ered by  the  Institute,  would  give  to  the  European  nations  every  advantage 
over  the  United  States. 

Your  high  official  standing  in  the  Government  of  the  United  States  gives 
you  the  position  to  place  the  ratification  of  the  Protocol  in  the  avenues  of 
efficient  action,  and  I  feel  no  hesitancy  in  believing  that  in  calling  this  matter 
to  your  attention  it  will  find  speedy  action,  and  of  that  character  which  will 
dispose  of  it  in  the  highest  interests  of  the  United  States. 

In  conclusion,  permit  me  to  observe  that  if  the  Protocol  is  to  be  ratified 
at  all,  the  time  to  do  so  is  during  this  session,  so  that  when  the  Institute 
opens  its  doors  the  United  States  may  be  represented  right  from  the  start, 
in  order  that  it  may  be  able  to  help  shape  matters  so  as  to  properly  place  the 
United  States  on  that  working  footing  which  its  exalted  position  among  the 
First  Powers  will  give  it  the  right  to  hold  in  the  deliberations  and  actions  of 
the  Institute,  and  which  would  be  the  easier  to  obtain  and  hold  when  adhering 
to  the  Institute  during  the  pioneer  period. 

Respectfully  submitted. 

DAVID   LUBIN. 

[The  Protocol  was  ratified  b}^  the  United  States  Senate  June  27, 
1906.] 


